UNDRR News

Disasters and climate related catastrophes are increasing the dangers facing children today such as child trafficking, according to a recent report by Najat Maalla M'jid, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The newly formed Group of Friends for Disaster Risk Reduction this week launched a powerful photo exhibition at the UN in New York to coincide with the opening of the so-called "informal-informal" negotiations leading up to the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today urged people to think about how much water they will be responsible for using today on World Water Day.

Mayors and other representatives from some of Asia's largest cities are gathering for three days in Manila to focus on urban resilience across the disaster-prone region.

The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström, today launched a new report by Development Initiatives which highlights major discrepancies in the way that donors allocate funding for disaster risk reduction despite economic losses of over one trillion dollars from disasters so far this century.

The 2,000 year-old Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a UNESCO world heritage site often described as the 8th Wonder of the World. Their preservation is at the heart of an environmental campaign launched last weekend by UNISDR's Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Champion, Senator Loren Legarda.

Prevention and response to water-related disasters and crises are high on agenda at this week's Sixth World Water Forum which has resulted in a Ministerial Declaration that "we intend to develop and strengthen national and trans-boundary disaster prevention and response strategies."

Following a recent decision by its Cabinet to buy land in Fiji as 'climate change insurance' for its population, Kiribati President, Anote Tong has called on the international community to address the effects of climate change that could wipe out the entire Pacific archipelago.

Inspired by UNISDR’s flagship 'Making Cities Resilient' campaign, the European Commission’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency is to boost disaster preparedness in European cities by turning higher education institutes into 'reliable partners to reduce society’s vulnerability to hazards.'

The private sector is making significant contributions to the delivery of reliable and safe water worldwide, providing services to around 160 million people in emerging markets, according to a report from World Bank Group's private arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).